Staying at Daisy's Read Free Page A

consultant, who was in his fifties and wearing a crumpled checked shirt under his immaculate white coat, said, ‘Mrs Standish, I’m sorry. We’ve carried out the second set of tests and they confirm what we feared. Your husband sustained an extremely severe head injury. There are no signs of brain function.’
    Oh God.
    Oh God .
    ‘Right.’ Daisy nodded and gazed out of the window. It was raining hard outside. ‘So, basically, he’s already dead.’
    ‘I’m afraid so.’
    There was a box of tissues on the desk in front of her. For the tears, of course. Daisy, embarrassed by her inability to cry, said, ‘Well, thank you for everything you’ve done.’
    The consultant cleared his throat. ‘There is one other thing I’d like to discuss with you, as Steven’s next of kin. The opportunity to allow others the chance of life.’ He rested his long fingers on a form and slid it across the desk towards her. ‘I don’t know if you and your husband ever discussed the issue of organ donation, but in our experience it can be of great comfort to the family in years to come, knowing that—’
    ‘You want to use Steven’s organs for transplant?’ Astonished, Daisy’s eyebrows shot up. ‘What, even though he has cancer? Wouldn’t that be risky for whoever got them?’
    The consultant frowned. ‘Cancer? I’m sorry, I’m not with you.’
    ‘His cancer. I assumed it was all in there.’ Daisy nodded at the hospital notes, lying open on the desk. ‘He said he’d seen one of the doctors here… well, I thought it was this hospital. Unless he went private.’
    The consultant’s frown deepened. ‘Just give me a couple of minutes.’
    Daisy waited alone in the bad news room and watched the rain rattling against the windows. Since she couldn’t begin to gather her thoughts, she concentrated instead on counting the raindrops as they slid down the glass.
    The consultant duly returned several minutes later.
    ‘I’ve spoken to Steven’s doctor. She hasn’t seen your husband for over two years, and he couldn’t be referred to a hospital—any hospital—without a doctor referral. I think we can safely assume there’s been some kind of misunderstanding here,’ he concluded gently. ‘Your husband doesn’t have cancer.’
    ***
    Daisy found the nurse she was looking for, stacking away metal kidney dishes in the sluice room.
    ‘The consultant’s told me about Steven,’ Daisy announced, and the kindly nurse put down the dishes at once.
    ‘Oh, my dear, I’m so sorry. Would you like me to make you a nice cup of tea?’
    ‘No thanks.’
    ‘And you’re being so brave.’
    Privately, Daisy thought it more likely that the nurses on the unit thought she was downright weird.
    ‘I wanted to ask you about the girl who was here yesterday afternoon. The one who was in the car with Steven when he had the accident.’
    The nurse flushed slightly. Which confirmed it.
    ‘The thing is,’ Daisy went on, ‘I heard you telling her she couldn’t see him, because she wasn’t a relative. But under the circumstances… well, it wouldn’t hurt, would it? You could let her in for a few minutes while I stay out of the way.’
    The nurse, her fair skin the color of strawberry Angel Delight, said, ‘She isn’t here, love. I told her to go home.’
    Daisy gave her a long look. ‘But I bet she gave you her phone number.’
    From the expression on the nurse’s face, it was clear that the girl had. Well, it was only natural.
    ‘Ring her up,’ said Daisy. ‘I don’t know who she is, and I don’t want to meet her. But if she’s Steven’s girlfriend, at least she deserves the chance to say goodbye.’

Chapter 3
    One Year Later
    ‘Daisy, can you be around this afternoon? The Cross-Dressers are arriving at four to discuss the menus for the wedding reception.’
    Tara Donovan, who worked as a chambermaid at the hotel, suppressed a smile. Her own parents were dead now, but her father had been the quiet, pipe-and-slippers type. It must